Jerusalem Creative Spaces is an arts residency programme hosted by the British Council in Jerusalem, dedicated to supporting Palestinian artists, collectives, cultural organisations and practitioners, as part of our ongoing commitment to the cultural sector and our role in the preservation of Palestinian heritage. In response to the increasing pressures facing the Palestinian artistic and cultural sector in Jerusalem and beyond, as well as the limited spaces available for arts in the city, the residency provides both a physical workspace and a production grant to enable creative development and collaborations.

Building on a fruitful three-year journey, Jerusalem Creative Spaces has returned with a new round. The programme is introducing a joint residency in collaboration with Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem and internationally acclaimed Assemble Collective (UK). This new partnership reflects our continued efforts to expand our scope and connect artists and creatives across Palestinian cities, with the UK and internationally.  

Meet the artists of this round:

Ahmad Alaqra is an artist, curator, and researcher whose practice interrogates the aesthetics of power embedded in everyday life. Beginning in September, he will develop Cabinet of Screams at Wonder Cabinet, a sculptural and sonic installation that explores what lingers after a scream, framing it as a form of speech within Palestinian life, resonant with joy, grief, and resistance. Drawing on oral histories and recordings from Palestine and its diaspora, the work preserves the unarchivable: breath, voice, and memory in moments of rupture.

Marineh is a cook, artist, and founder of Fukhara Baladi a project that creates spaces for people to gather around food, memory, and traditional knowledge. Beginning in October, she will be developing her project at the British Council premises. Pot Chronicles is a space where she’ll be cooking, hosting, and documenting conversations around food, memory, and tradition. “The idea is to create a living record of the foods we grew up with, the Flavors that shaped us, and the cultural knowledge we carry in our kitchens.”

Nisreen is a Palestinian architect, visual researcher, and artist whose practice moves between installation, photography, and material-based processes. Beginning in October, she will develop In Lab: Turning Land into Archive, a research-driven project that explores papermaking and image-making as methods for grounding memory in natural matter. During her residency with the British Council, Nisreen will create handmade paper from agricultural waste, forming the foundation for an experimental approach to printmaking.

Ruba Alfaraouna is a visual and a sound artist whose work explores the intersections of voice, place, and power through audio practices. Beginning in September, she will develop Echo of the Edge, a sound-based project rooted in the stories and experiences of Palestinian Bedouin women living in and around Jerusalem. During her residency with the British Council, Ruba will engage with these often-unmapped communities, using field recordings and audio composition to re-situate their presence within a landscape shaped by political erasure.

This initiative began in 2021 by opening the four classrooms of our former teaching centre in the back office of our Jerusalem premises for the arts through an open call. During the past 3 years, we supported 13 projects including 7 Individuals, 3 Collectives, and 2 Organisations across various art forms, engaging 100+ artists and reaching thousands in Jerusalem, the UK and internationally.
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